


Mothman's Boyfriend

by ivory_p3ach3s



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Texas, alternate universe - hometown, more tags as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 15:51:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15246672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivory_p3ach3s/pseuds/ivory_p3ach3s
Summary: When the McClain-Sanchez family moves into Keith's neighbourhood, his mother encourages him to become friends with the neighbours next door.  In short, that doesn't end well.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance sighs as he stands in the empty blue room.  Glow-In-The-Dark stars are still plastered to the ceiling and one wall is covered in pin holes from hanging up posters.  The closet is bare and empty, one single hanger left. Lance walks over and picks up the hanger from the closet, holding onto it as he starts to exit his old bedroom.  

On the doorframe, he notices his mother’s neat handwriting, his name, numbers, and scratches into the frame.  He smiles and touches each one gently, four years old all the way up until seventeen. He stands against the frame and pulls the pencil from behind his ear, marking off one last tag in messy scrawl -- Lance McClain 18, 2017

He stuffs the pencil into his pocket and heads downstairs, running into his mother, who’s chittering excitedly to the movers and her husband.  She spots Lance move down the stairs and smiles, rushing forward. She holds his face in her soft hands and smiles up at her tall boy.

“Mijo, is your room cleaned out?  We leave in 5 minutes.” 

Lance gives Rosa a warm smile and holds up his clothing hanger.  “Just a hanger, mama. Where do you want it?” 

“Just put it in the back of the car,” she shrugs, rubbing his shoulders gently.  “Go find Veronica and Julie and get in the car! Your brothers are already in there.”  She’s excited and moves to help the movers with the last boxes of the house.

Lance looks around the empty living room once more, sighing.  He had lived in this house his entire life and now, they were moving away.  They were moving to Texas, which wasn’t too far, just a few states away. He was excited to move somewhere warm, just like Arizona, but he didn’t want to leave his home here.  He gives one last glance before moving out to the van and jumping in with all his siblings.

Veronica, Julia, Giovanna, Gavin, Isabel, Mateo, and Lance, all sitting in their van, waiting to leave.  Lance sits in the back and turns in his seat, watching Rosa lock up with door with their father before his parents get into the car and begin to drive away.  The moving truck quickly follows and soon, Lance can’t see his old house anymore.

“Mami, where’s the new house,” Giovanna asks, hugging her stuffed hippo tighter to her chest.  Lance’s little sister wasn’t ready to move either, none of the kids were.

“Texas, mija.  A nice little neighbourhood close to your papi’s work.”  Rosa turns in her seat to look at her children and holds Giovanna’s knee tight, giving it a reassuring squeeze.  “Don’t worry, Vanna. You’ll love the new house. You get your own room!”

In all their years at the old house, Lance always had his own room and never had to share with his brothers but, in the new house, all the girls were getting their own rooms and all three boys were to squeeze together in one room.  Gavin was old enough to leave and probably would but, Mateo and Lance had to still share a room.

“Can we paint it pink, mami?”  Giovanna perks up at the mention of her single room and Rosa nods and smiles at her small daughter.

“Of course, mija.  Now, sit back and be quiet, it’s a long trip.”  She sends a wink to the children and turns back in her seat to speak with Edwardo, her husband, quietly.

The trip is mostly quiet, with exception to some singing and chatter from the back.  Julia complains about leaving her friends behind in Arizona and her crush, ignoring Veronica, who tells her she’ll find new friends and a new crush.  Giovanna ends up napping with Mateo and Isabela and Gavin and Lance are left to play endless rounds of rock-paper-scissors and iSpy. 

Lance was never one to sleep on roadtrips, it was too bumpy and loud in the car.  Anytime he slept in the car, he had dreams of where they were going, fantasising about what great things would happen when Lance knew that, it probably wouldn’t happen.

He didn’t feel pessimistic about moving, it was better for their family, they’d be closer to relatives and his father had better work opportunities but, Lance knew that where they were going, it was a small town with nothing eventful.  Everyone knew each other in the town, everyone was expecting the McClain’s, Lance was sure it would be an ‘exciting’ welcome party.

14 hours later, after driving and playing rock-paper-scissors and braving through the heat as the AC unit in the car gave out, they arrive in Texas.  The city is small, a name Lance can’t remember but, he recognises the scenery from pictures Edwardo brought back from his business trip. There was a small diner, grocery store, abandoned barn, and like, three other shops.  Lance stares out the window and watches small houses pass by, small farms, not much around before the van slows down in front of a small little green house.

“Welcome home,” Rosa says softly, smiling at the house.  Everyone piles out of the house and stands to stare at it.  It’s a small little green home, white shutters and picket fencing.  The house only looks two stories but, Rosa had mentioned something about a basement earlier.  Lance assumed the girls would sleep down there, there was probably more room for them.

He walks up to the door and allows Edwardo to open it before stepping inside.  It smells musty, like dust and mold but it looks semi-clean, like they removed the mold but not the smell.  It had old furniture inside of it, not moved out. The floorboards creaked as Lance entered the home, squeaking with every step.

“Lance, mijo, your room is upstairs,” Eduardo tells him.  “First door on the right.” He pats Lance’s shoulder and urges him to move up the stairs.  He’s hesitant, not knowing if the stairs will hold but, when he’s at the top, he inches away down the hall.  First door on the right… He opens it up to reveal a bedroom with a single bed frame in it, a swirly white metal bed frame.  Rosa appears behind him and places a hand on the small of his back. 

“We figured you could have your own bedroom, mijo.  Mateo sleeps next to your father and I…” Rosa smiles and lets Lance be, letting him admire his room.  Sure, he has a girly bed frame but, it’s better than having the mattress on the floor like at the old house.  He walks to the closet and opens the door, revealing a small walk in-- he had never had a walk in closet before.

The room itself is small, the walls a light blue color- he wouldn’t have to paint then.  There was a window that pointed out onto the street with some old blinds in front of them.  Lance pulls the blinds up to reveal the small street they live on. There were three houses in front of his that he could see, each one looking unique and quaint in their own ways.

Lance turns around to face his room again and nods to himself, putting his hands on his hips.  It would be a fixer-upper but, he could deal with it. He feels something in his pocket and pulls the same pencil from it, smiling to himself.  Standing up straight in front of the doorframe, he marks off his height and grins, sketching it in- matching messy scrawl at the other house.

 

“Lance McClain - 18 - 2017”

 

Lance smiles and sticks the pencil back in his pocket.  Yeah, this would work just fine. Maybe he would enjoy it here in Texas. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lance quickly discovers who lives across the street from him.  One is a pretty girl who he’s told he has no chance with almost instantly, another is a small angry goblin who likes peanut butter, and the third is a Samoan baker who he becomes instant best friends with.

Rosa instantly falls in love with Hunk, the Samoan baker, as he makes food for Rosa all the time.  Pidge, the goblin, is instantly liked because she’s surprisingly polite to adults, and the girl across the street?  He name is Allura and Lance gets real warm thinking about her. The issue? She’s best friends with his sister, instead of him.

Hunk lives with his moms and their small yappy dog, Sofie.  Pidge is in a house with her parents, her older brother, Matthew, and their dog Bae-Bae.  Allura lives with her parents and apparently her ‘boyfriend’, whatever that means. Hunk was telling Lance about how Allura’s parents and the boyfriend’s parents were super close and best friends or whatever.  Okay, but, you don’t have to live in the same house right?

Lance was almost completely aware of the entire street except for two houses, each on the sides of him.

“The one on the right side is Coran,” Hunk says one day.  They laze around in the grass in Hunk’s front yard, eating a popsicle while Hunk explains ‘Texas’ to him.  “He’s some sort of engineer from Australia or something.”

Pidge plops down beside Lance with her computer, opening it up to begin typing some code or whatever she did.  “He’s a cool guy- super eccentric.”

“ _ Really _ eccentric,” Hunk confirms.  “Cool guy, kinda weird.”

Lance nods slowly and turns his attention away from the white house to the house to the left of his own.  “And who lives there? Mami brought them some cookies or something yesterday, said the lady of the house was real nice…”

“That is the Kogane house,” Hunk explains.  “Cool family. You have K. Kogane, I think the K stands for something but I’m not sure, and she’s the lady of the house.  Super nice, kinda scary, also a total hottie.”

Lance snorts, the lived next door to a hot mom?  “Who else lives there?”

“Well, her husband died like, ten years back, he was a firefighter.  I don’t remember him super well but, he was super nice. We enjoyed having him around- he would barbeque for the street all the time, his name was Tex.  He was cool.

“And then they have two sons- Takashi and Keith.  Takashi is adopted, I think- he also goes by Shiro so that’s easier to say, and then Keith is their own.  Shiro’s like, 20 something I think? And Keith is nineteen.”

“Do they go to our school?”

Hunk shrugs.  “Shiro doesn’t, I think Keith did at one point but, he doesn’t now.  He didn’t graduate, he’s in our class but, I think he might’ve flunked out.”

Lance suddenly feels a small talon on his shoulder.  Pigde looks him dead in the eyes, a serious expression.

“We don’t hang out with Keith for a reason, Lance.  Stay away from that house.”

\--

Lance could see the Kogane’s house from the window in the hallway.  It was a small little shack of a house, all the upstairs blinds closed.  He had been watching all day, curious on why Pidge said to stay away from Keith.  

He hadn’t seen much movement in the house all day until a car pulled up to the garage, parking outside.  A woman stepped out (Hunk was right, she was hot), a girl stepping out of the car as well, and… A dog? Then a boy stepped out.  Lance couldn’t catch a glance before the boy ducked inside the house but, now his curiosity was piqued.

The boy and the dog had gone inside but, the woman and girl approached Lance’s own house.  He bolts down the hallway and down the stairs to see Rosa opening the door for the two. Rosa welcomes them in warmly and invites them to sit on the couch while she grabs some lemonade, leaving Lance to stand in the living room awkwardly.

“You must be Lance,” the woman says, standing to shake his hand.  He shakes it, surprised by her firm grip and nods. “My name is Krolia, this is my daughter, Romelle.”  She smiles and presents Romelle, who looks like she doesn’t even fit the mold of her mother. Krolia has dark features, dark hair and skin but, Romelle is pale and has long blonde hair, the same amber eyes though.

“Hi, I’m Lance,” he says, giving an awkward wave to Romelle before taking a seat.  Rosa walks back into the living room with a tray of lemonade and some cookies. She offers them to the guests before taking a seat herself, smiling happily.  

Krolia pulls out her own gift for Rosa, a small bottle.  “Lavender oil. I apologise, I can’t bring over sweets, I’m afraid I can’t cook but, Romelle works as a botanist so, oil.”  She gives an awkward chuckle and smiles as Rosa takes the bottle.

“No, this is lovely!  Thank you!”

“Welcome to the neighbourhood,” Krolia tells them with a smile.  Lance can barely keep himself still.

“Hunk told me you have more kids,” he blurts out.  “Boys?” He wants to know, he wants to know, he wants to know!  He fiddles with his fingers, now anxious, he knew it was impolite to interrupt a conversation.

Krolia simply nods and smiles.  “Two of them, Takashi and Keith.  And we have our dog, Yorak.” Lance nearly busts out laughing, what kind of name for a dog is that?  Sounds like you’re vomiting or something --  _ yorak! Blech. _

Lance nods slowly.  “Cool, cool. I was just curious.”

Krolia sighs.  “I’ve been trying to get Keith to come over all week but, he’s a little awkward, I apologise.  I’m sure he’ll be over soon, maybe Takashi can bring him over.”

Lance nods again.  “That’s cool, take your time, we’re gonna be here a while.  Not planning on moving for a bit,” he jokes. Everyone chuckles and indulges the joke before he excuses himself to the window upstairs once more, staring at the house next door.  No movement, just still. He feels like it’ll be like that for a while, still.

For days, the house is still.  Lance catches glimpses of Krolia getting into her car in the morning as he leaves for school and then watches her get home around five every day.  Sometimes her kids are in the car with her, sometimes they aren’t. 

Days carry on to weeks and soon, Lance has lived in the new house for three months and still not met his new neighbour.  He begins to stomp over there- he didn’t care if this Keith kid was crazy, he was going to make a friend and figure out why Pidge didn’t like him- he was curious. 

He almost makes it to the property before he hears an unholy screech.

“Lance!  What the hell are you doing,” Pidge yells.  “Don’t be stupid!”

Could the kid seriously be that bad?!  He marches up to the door, ignoring Pidges exasperated curses and knocks.  He’s waiting, he’s waiting, he’s waiting… He almost turns away, maybe they’re not home, Krolia wasn’t even home, before the lock clicks and the door swings open.

“Can I help you?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Sorry, Keith isn’t home right now.  I can take a message for him though.”  A huge dude answered the door and Lance felt weak in the knees, not only because this dude could crush him under his thumb but, his neighbour was hot.  It was like, attractive ran through the genes of the Kogane family. If this wasn’t Keith though, this had to be the other brother- Takashi.

“Uh, sure,” Lance says, playing it cool.  He leans against the railing on the porch and shrugs nonchalantly.  “I’m the new neighbour, wanted to say hi, hang out or something.” Lance shrugs again, a few more times in fact, looking back up at Takashi.  “The name’s, Lance~”

Takashi nods slowly and extends his hand.  “Takashi, although I prefer Shiro with new people.  Please, come inside. Let me get something to write with..”  He opens the door wider and Lance follows him inside, shaking the firm hand.  Sturdy, just like his mom.

Their house inside is lovely.  It’s cozy and warm, very inviting.  Lots of furniture is covered in woven materials but, there’s culture all over the house as well.  Lance looks around, desperately searching for a family picture on the wall but, he can’t find an unfamiliar picture.  The only unfamiliar face he finds looks similar to Shiro but older, probably their late father.

There’s a photo of Shiro’s graduation, him in several different uniforms, pictures of Krolia and the father, pictures of Krolia and Romelle, Romelle and Shiro, but none of another sibling.  It’s like Keith didn’t even exist.

Shiro invites him to sit down on the couch and Lance realises, he’s probably staying longer than anticipated.  He takes a seat and looks up at Shiro, seeing the other man sit with a pen and paper before immediately standing.

“Can I get you a drink, Lance?  Water, coffee, juice?”

“Water’s fine,” Lance says, fiddling with the end of his jacket sleeves.  Shiro nods and walks back into where Lance assumes a kitchen is, leaving the boy to continue observing.  He doesn’t want to pry but, his curiosity gets the best of him and he begins to touch things.

The coffee table has several shelves, where Lance sees photo books.  He slips one out, seeing the cover of it.  _ Takashi _ .  Lance opens the book gingerly and begins to look through the photos, observing them.  They’re all pictures of Shiro, beginning when he was just a kid, maybe eight. He had missing teeth and dark shaggy black hair.  Now thinking about it, Shiro looked a lot different. Lance didn’t realise how different Shiro looked until seeing child photos. He continues to flip through pages before Shiro walks back in, a small familiar smile on his face.

“You found the photo albums.  Mom keeps them out for guests.”  His voice surprises Lance and Lance shuts the album closed quickly.

“Sorry, I was curious.”

Shiro laughs and sits beside him, cracking the album open again.  “No, no, it’s fine, she likes when people look at them.” He points out different photos as they go through and Lance sips on his water as they talk and observe.

“I joined the army when I was eighteen,” he explains.  “It gave me this and the white hair.” Lance looks up and sees Shiro motion to a large scar across his nose and the frosty white/grey hair.  Lance didn’t even realise that Shiro was injured. He’s even more surprised when Shiro rolls up his sleeve to reveal a metal arm. “Took my arm too, oops.”

“I’m sorry,” Lance says, the phrase sounding more like a question.  “T-Thank you for your service.”

Shiro nods.  “It’s all good.  I got to come home after six years and return to my family.”  He shrugs and they move onto the next few books. The go through Romelle’s book, they had adopted her when she was 14, just a few years prior.  Finally, they reach Keith’s book and Lance is buzzing with excitement.

The book begins with baby pictures, a small pale baby with dark hair and purple eyes.  He grows up a little, pictures of missing teeth, broken bones, proud smiles for mud pies, Keith was an adorable kid and then the book stops- it ends at age ten.  Lance frowns at the end.

“Where’s the rest?  Actually, where are photos of Keith in general?  There aren’t any on the walls either…” Oh God, Lance didn’t think before he spoke, maybe Keith was dead or something.  From Shiro’s chuckle though, Lance decides that’s not the case.

“We haven’t managed to take a single photo of Keith after he turned 12.  He hates pictures, and hates these books.”

_ Angsty _ , Lance thinks.  He looks at Keith’s baby pictures once more before putting the album back on the coffee table and turning to Shiro.  He had learned a lot about their family. Lance looks down at his phone to check the time and realises it’s nearly been three hours since he went over.  He hears the front door crack open and listens as their dog trots in, Romelle and Krolia following.

“Lance!  I didn’t realise you were over, how are you,” Krolia asks.  Lance stands immediately and extends his hand for a firm shake, nodding.

“Good, ma’am.  I came over to see if I could meet Keith but, Shiro said he wasn’t home…  We looked at baby pictures instead…”

Krolia smiles.  “I’m glad you enjoyed the albums.  Keith is at work for another…” She glances at her watch.  “Thirty minutes. Why don’t you come over for dinner to meet him?  He’ll be home then.”

Lance nods slowly.  “Uh, sure. I should get home now then- my mom probably needs help with dinner.”

“No, no, no!  Invite the entire family over,” she says.  “We’ll all squeeze into the house.” She gives him a warm smile and he nods a little bit.  

“Of course, ma’am.”

Lance rushes home and tells Rosa that the Koganes invited them over for dinner.  The family gets ready for dinner and Lance stands in his room, deciding what to wear.  Hunk sits on his bed, watching him change into outfit after outfit.

“Lance, why does it even matter?  It’s just dinner. I’m sure Mrs. K doesn’t mind if you wear jeans and a t-shirt.”  Hunk rolls his eyes and flops back onto the bed.

“No, I have to look nice!  Good first impressions for Keith, alright!  And,  _ you _ -”  Lance spins around to give Hunk a menacing glare while he pulls a shirt over his shoulders.  “You didn’t warn me about Shiro, jerk.”

Hunk furrows his eyebrows.  “Warn you about Shiro? He’s a nice guy, what was there to warn you about?”

“That he’s hot,” Lance whines, buttoning up the shirt.  “I was off guard, buddy! I didn’t realise that hot genes ran through the entire family!  You at least warned me of Krolia!” Lance rolls his eyes and huffs, catching a tie that Hunk throws at him.

“I mean, I guess he’s hot.  He never caught my eye,” Hunk confesses, shrugging as he sits up again.  He looks at Lance and stands, walking over to mess with his hair.

“You’re blind,” Lance hisses.  “Is Keith attractive too?”

Hunk shrugs.  “I don’t see him very often, man.  I’m not sure.”

Lance frowns.  “It’s because you guys never invite him to hang out.  What’s wrong with him? Like, is he crazy or something?  What’s so wrong with the kid, you don’t even hang out with him?”

Hunk rolls his eyes.  “You know how Iverson is blind in one eye?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Keith did that.”

Lance blinks.  “You’re not serious.”  Hunk doesn’t even move, he just stares at Lance.  “Oh my god, you’re serious… Dude!”

Hunk nods.  “Yeah, I know.  He intimidates Pidge and I, that’s not good behavior.  He’s had anger issues like, all his life. Shiro dated Allura for a while as well so, they’re on like, a weird platform of living.  I dunno, man, the Koganes are nice but they’re  _ weird _ .”

Lance huffs and crosses his arms.  “ _ You’re _ weird.”

Hunk rolls his eyes and pats down Lance’s shoulders and finishes making him look nice before nodding.  “Have fun at dinner, don’t die.”

Lance nods and swats Hunk’s hands away.  “Thanks,  _ mom _ ,” he teases. “I’ll call you about it tomorrow.”

Hunk leaves and Lance heads next door with his family, holding a cake that Rosa made for dessert.  Veronica rings the doorbell for him and they wait for the door to be opened before a boy opens it for them, Romelle vibrating behind him.

Keith Kogane.


	4. Chapter 4

“It was horrible, Hunk!”  Lance put the phone onto speaker and threw it on his bed before starting to strip from his clothes at dinner, frustrated.  “It was absolutely horrible, I’m never going over to their house ever again!”

“Close your blinds, Lance, Christ, dude.”

Lance growls and walks over to the blinds, snapping them shut before kicking his nice pants off and leaving them on the floor.  His belt drops with a clatter and he continues to fume. 

“What made it so terrible, buddy?  It was just dinner.”

“Just dinner my ass,” Lance cries out.  “God, I thought he would be some cool dude but, he’s such a  _ dick _ ,” the boy seethes.  He tugs a shirt over his head and falls onto the bed, sighing and picking the phone up.  He takes it off speaker and stares at the ceiling, the new stars he plastered on.

“Alright, alright, calm down, tell me what went wrong.”

Lance starts at the beginning, explaining the entire story in great detail to Hunk, not missing a beat or a description.

He stood in front of Keith’s door, watching as the other opened the door.  Romelle was excited behind him and pushed past Keith to invite the McClain’s in, rambling quickly to Lance as she took the cake and dragged him into the kitchen.  Lance only got a quick glimpse of Keith but, he knew that he had yes- inherited his mom’s attractive gene.

Krolia sat in the kitchen, working on some food and smiled when Romelle tugged Lance in.  She wore an evening gown and had her hair styled. Romelle also wore a dress and looked fancier.  Shiro walked into the kitchen at the same time, wearing a suit. Suddenly, Lance didn’t feel so overdressed.

“Lance!  We’re glad your family could make it,” Krolia gushes, smiling at him.  “I’m just finishing with dinner. Will you help Romelle finish setting the table please?  I asked Keith but, I don’t know if he did…”

Lance nods, still dazed at how much was going on.  He leaves the kitchen as fast as he entered and helps Romelle set the table for the large party before everything blurs a bit and Lance is sitting at the table between Julia and Veronica, food in front of him.  They say grace and begin to eat, Lance not taking his eyes off Keith.

Lance doesn’t even remember what they had for dinner, he was so distracted by Keith.  Keith was pale, just like himself in the baby photos, same dark hair and amethyst eyes.  His hair was longer, a lot of it in his eyes but, he still managed to avoid eye contact all together or stare back at Lance, there was no in between.

His look was intense, quizzical almost, he was analyzing Lance and Lance hated it.  He felt like he had to sit up straight and keep his elbows off the table and make a genuinely good impression for his next door neighbour.  Everything about Keith was dark, God he was emo, and Lance couldn’t tell if he liked it or not- black suit, black shirt, red tie. He even wore fingerless gloves at the table.

“Keith,” Krolia hisses.  “ _ Gloves _ .”  Keith gives his mother a look before slipping them off and stuffing them in his suit pocket.  It seemed like Krolia probably forced Keith to wear the nice suit and tried to do his hair and failed desperately, giving in to the mop on Keith’s head.

“So Lance,” Shiro starts.  The table was silent except for the clinking of silverware on the dishes and he insisted on small talk rather than nothing.  “What’s your plan after high school? College? I know the Navy could always have another pair of hands.”

“Not everyone wants to serve, Takashi,” Keith mutters, playing with his food.  A swift kick is heard beneath the table and Keith sends Krolia a glare before muttering out an apology.

“Uh, not the Navy though…  I’d like to stay close to home, I enjoy it here,” he says with a nervous chuckle.  “I’m interested in marine biology so, something with that. I plan on going back to Cuba someday as well.”

“Is that where your family is from,” Romelle asks, smiling.  “Cuba is beautiful, my brother went once.” She looks at the boys and laughs a little.  “Not these brothers, my other brother, Bandor. He said he enjoyed Cuba very much.”

Lance nods.  “I wasn’t born there but, my older siblings were.”  His family had moved just before Lance was born so, he had lived in Arizona his entire life.

“I love Cuba,” Gavin begins.  “It’s gorgeous. I miss it there.”

The family gushes about their country for a little while before conversation strays to Keith and what he’s planning on doing with his life.

“Keith enjoys biology too, Lance.  Maybe you could drag him to university with you,” Krolia laughs, giving Keith a good-hearted smile.  He just glares back. Man, Lance was getting sick of this, why was this kid so disrespectful of his mom, she was a nice lady.  Lance wasn’t known for calling others out but, he was ready to call Keith out.

“Really, what kind of biology,” Lance asks, glancing over at Keith.  The boy shrugs.

“I dunno.  I enjoy all biology,”

“His favorite is human,” Romelle interrupts.  “He has a whole bunch of like, anatomy stuff in his bedroom and is a total nerd about staying healthy,” she giggles.  “He likes to gush about it sometimes, I don’t blame him. He sounds smart when he does.”

Lance notices that Keith doesn’t glare at Romelle like he does the rest of his family.  He just hides a small smile (that Lance can still see) and even flushes a bit pink. Lance wondered what kind of relationship Keith and Romelle had- Romelle seemed like the favorite sibling.

The group finishes dinner and lazes around the house, socialising and eating cake.  Lance takes the opportunity to go and say hello to Keith and properly introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Lance…  You’re Keith- I haven’t met you properly yet.”  Keith propped himself up against one of the walls, hidden in the nearby hallway.  He looks up at Lance with a cold stare and Lance can feel his bones chill a little bit.

“Welcome to the neighbourhood, I guess.”

Lance nods, that went nowhere.  He leans against the opposite wall from Keith and kicks the ground lightly.  “So uh- I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime? My friends and I-”

“Pidge and Hunk,” Keith asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, them- we wanted to know if you wanted to come over tomorrow and-”

“No.”

Lance blinks.  “You didn’t even hear my offer-”

“No.”

“But-”

_ “No,” _ , Keith replies once more.

Lance frowns and growls.  “Look, buddy, I’m just trying to be nice here.  I want you to come over and play video games with us or something!”

“And I don’t want to go.  Your friends aren’t inviting me,  _ you’re  _ inviting me and it wouldn’t be any fun for anyone.  So, no. Goodnight.” Keith turns to walk down the hall and probably disappear but Lance grabs his wrist, earning a sharp tug and snarl from the other.

“Dude, come on-”

“ _ Don’t touch me.  Goodnight. _ ”  And with that, the bedroom door slams and Lance is left in the hallway like an idiot.  He frowns and crosses his arms, what an jerk, he just wanted to see if Keith would hang out with them.  Was it Lance’s fault? Was it Pidge and Hunk’s fault? Ugh.

He exits the hallway and listens to Romelle ramble for a little bit but, the rest of the night is no fun, Lance’s mood is at an all time low since he’s gotten to Texas.  He fakes being excited for a bit before it’s finally time to go home. When he gets home, he immediately calls Hunk.

“Dude, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise how mean he would be to you.  Pidge warned you though…”

“I don’t think he  _ meant _ to be mean though, Hunk!  I think he was just being defensive…  Pidge does that every time she’s on her period or something.”  Lance sighs and throws an arm over his eyes, whining. “His mom even said it, he’s awkward.  He just needs some warming up, maybe?”

“Don’t get yourself hurt, Lance.  He’s kinda a mean kid.”

“Look, now  _ that _ is the reason he doesn't want to hang out with us.” Lance sighs once more.  “I’ll call you later. I have to make a plan.”

He hears Hunk sigh on the other side.  “Good luck, buddy. Goodnight.”

Lance hangs up and sits up on his bed.  How was he going to get on Keith’s good side?  He had to figure out some way, he felt horrible that  his friends had pushed the kid away. Lance didn’t care what Keith did to Iverson or whatever, he knew what it like felt to be alone…

He nods with determination, a plan already forming in his head of how he was going to befriend Keith Kogane.

And it all started with stalking the hell out of him.


End file.
